For London

Morning after the London bombings: I'm glad to see that all my LJ friends and acquaintances in the UK are fine, we've heard from family members who are also completely okay - not unexpectedly, since none live or otherwise habitually travel inside London Tube Zone 1 - but that all seems, in a way, beside the point. Others are not okay, and that's the horrible point. I keep flashing back to all the Tube security measures on our last visit (such as no trash bins open for bombs to be discreetly dropped into), and how I'd wondered at the time if the government wasn't being just a tad paranoid... but cynicism in this case really seems to have really won out. Officials coped fast with the crisis, and Londoners just... got on with their day. Amazing.

It's... weird, when these kinds of things happen, my immediate reaction is almost never alarm or even grief, but more like I wish I was there. Even if only to sit on a sofa with a mug of tea and watch the BBC with everyone else, I wish I was there. There's a great pulling-together in a time of crisis that's awe-inspiring to witness, and even more awe-inspiring to be part of - I've felt it during earthquakes here. There's this quiet calm even in the middle of chaos, with everyone absorbing information - well, that changes everything, doesn't it? - and then there's action and reaction, and absolutely ordinary folks acting like heroes. Even if it's just to walk and talk and joke and to offer help to someone who needs it, just because you happen to be there. The Great and Wonderful Family of Man.

Good speeches abound: Tony Blair, Ken Livingstone, Tony Parsons... even the Queen's remarks emphasized how the community will unite and continue to stand. "Cowardly" is the word I'm hearing most often to refer to the attacks.

Go London, with your refusal to panic and your we've-seen-worse-than-this toughness. You make us all proud.